Condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy and method for storing the same



May 20, 1941. L. HIRSCHLAND ETAL v 2,242,886 CONDENSER ELEC DE FOR SHORT- VE ULTRA-SHORT-WAVE THERAP ND METHOD F0 .TOR THE SAME Filed March a, 1955 Patented May 2%, 19411 UNETED STA .3

a .TEN'r OFFICE CONDENSER ELECTRODE FOR SHDRT-WAVE AND ULTRA-SHORT WAVE THERAPY AND METHOD FOR sroamo THE SAME Leo Hirschland, San Francisco, Calif., and Georg Schmidt, Mains, Gey

Application March a, 1935. Serial m. 9,998 In Germany March it, 1934i .14 Claims.

construction, however, is open to the objection of being expensive and heavy, which makes the treatment more dimcult. Another drawback of the known form of construction consists in that the physician must keep in stock electrodes with various shaped hoods adapted to the actual shape of the part of the body to which the electrode is to be applied. However, even a large stock of electrodes may not satisfy the requirements of the physician owing to the differences in the surfaces of the body in the case of various individuals. An electrode the hood of which bears flat on the body of the patient will not lie flat on the similar part of the body of another patient, for example owing to a fold in the skin at this place. A further objection to the aforesaid form of construction consists in that it is difi'icult to keep the same sterile. If the glass hoods are boiled they often crack. For the treatment of furuncles, carbuncles and the like the said electrodes cannot be used at all. For such purposes the physician must procure special electrodes with bell-shaped hoods, capable of being placed over the furuncle, c'arbuncle or the like. However, even these special electrodes only fulfill their purpose in an imperfect'manner. For example a carbuncle on the nose can only be treated with difficulty by means of a bell-shaped electrode, because the circular contacting edge of the hood does not find a suitable bearing surface on the nose. Moreover, the dielectric-material of electrodes for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy has been formed by the application of layers of vulcanized soft rubber which, owing to their elasticity adapt themselves better to the portion of the body to be treated. However, these electrodes also have many drawbacks. They do not enable the physician to change the capacity as is possible in the case of hood-electrodes with an electrode plate shiftable relatively to the hood and to the portion of the body to be treated, and the necessity of placing them directly on the portion of the body to be treated precludes their use for the treatment of furuncles and carbuncles and marry other ulcerations.

The invention solves the problem of producing a condenser electrode which on the one hand can be universally used so thatit is not necessary for the physician to keep a stock of various kinds of condenser electrodes, and which on the other hand overcomes all the objections inherent in the known condenser electrodes. In the electrode according to the invention the dielectric material is formed by a body made of easily shapable or mouidable, plastic substance which is so inelastic that after being moulded it retains the shape given to it by the physician. The dielectric material is preferably formed of a substance which becomes plastic when heated and loses its plasticity on cooling. Of such dielectrics paraffin has proved particularly suitable and is also characterized by its low price.

The drawing shows several embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a relatively large and Fig. 2 is a front view of a relatively small electrode;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the electrode according to Fig. 1 being adapted for the treatment of furuncles or the like;

Fig. 4 is a partly longitudinal section. of an electrode according to Fig. 2 being adapted for the treatment of a furuncle on'the nose of a patient and applied on same;

Fig. 5 shows in section an electrode being provided with two different kinds of dielectric material, and

Fig. 6 shows an electrode of the same type, but

provided with means for varying its capacity.

The electrodes according to Figs. 1 to 4 consist of a metallic, circular disc-shaped, inflexible electrode plate a which carries on one side a lead stem 1) and on the other side a cylindrical parafin block 0. The block 0 is of such thickness that, when in plastic condition, its surface remote from the carrier plate a can be adapted to any portion of the surface of the body to be treated. Condenser electrodes preferably of similar shape, but different size, such as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, are preferably stored in a heated cupboard or some other heated container, in which the temperature is so high that the di-- electric retains its plastic condition. The physician is thus enabled to select from the cupboard an electrode of the particular diameter that he may require. To treat the trunk, for example, he will select an electrode the dielectric of which is of large enough diameter; and as he does not need a particularly complicated shape, he will merely cut from the block 0 a slice such that the" remaining portion of the block shall have the desired thickness. The physician will then apply this block to the portion of the body to be treated.

As long as the block' is plastic, it conforms accurately to the shape of the portion of the body in question. I On cooling i; retains this shape. The

electrode, being of very light weight, can be at-- tached to the body of the patient solely by adhesive strips and does not require the usual complicated holding means, which are very often undesirable. The electrode prepared for a patient is reserved for the treatment of this patient, so that the former dificulties as regards sterilizing are eliminated. At the termination of thetreatment, which may require numerous visits, the paraflln block is removed from the carrier plate a and melted. If a furuncle on a relatively smooth surface of the body is to be treated, the

physician makes in the soft parafiin block a depression corresponding to the shape, of the furuncle, so that the paraflln block assumes the shape of a bell. Fig. 3 shows in section a paramn block of this shape. If a furuncle on the surface of the nose is to be treated, the physician first moulds the parafiin block, whilst still in plastic condition, in accordance with the shape of the nose and then makes the hollow in it intended for accommodating the furuncle. Fig. 4 shows such a paraflin block in section.

It is evident that electrodes according to the invention can be universally employed but they present particularly great advantages for the treatment of the small cavities of the head, such as the frontal cavity, when exceptionally favorable indications could be noticed.

Heating plates provided witha. handle and shaped according to the shape of the electrode plate may be employed for fixing the parafiin block 0.

The electrode according to Fig. 5 consists of a layer c of a substance that becomes plastic under heat and that loses its plasticity at room temperature; for example, parafii'n. The paraifin layer 0 is fixed on a layer d which is constituted of a solid dielectric having a higher dielectric constant than the material constituting the layer a. The layer d may, for example, consist of hard rubber or an artificial resin composition consisting of phenol.

Condenser electrodes are known, in which the dielectric consists for exampleof a hard rubber body. The electrode shown in Fig. 5, however, presents the advantage over these known electrodes that, owing to the presence of the second layer 0, whichis plastic, it can be adapted by the physician to the shape of the portion of the body actually to be treated. As compared with an Y electrode the dielectric of which consists solely of a plastic substance, such as parafiin, the electrode illustrated in Fig. 5 presents the advantage that with smaller dimensions the same capacity can be obtained. This fact is of importance because it is desirable to give the electrode as small dimensions as possible in the direction of height,

a in preserving certain capacity values because .these are importance for obtaining the desiredtric constant of only 2.3. The capacity of the electrode can be increased, without considerably increasing the dimensions, by providing, for ax ample, a thin, hard-rubber disc; because the dielectric constant of hard rubber is about 2.9.

The above-mentioned, multiple-layer construcduce. According to Fig. 5, the parafiin block is ing. It preferably consists of a film produced 7 by the metal spraying process. 7 Where the matter of light weight is not of im portance, but where it is desirable to be able to products from condensation of vary the capacity, the electrode illustrated in Fig.

6 may be employed. The surface of the paraflln electrode 0, as before, may be molded according to the shape of the portion of the body to be treated; but a variable condenser is mounted on the block 0, illustrated as comprising a. glass hood under thecover g of which is mounted a metallic. electrode platei to which is secured a bolt 72. that is longitudinally shiftable through a hole in the cover 9.

Other modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considered to fall within the spirit and scope of the invention,

as defined in the appended claims. r

What is claimed 1. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy, having its dielectric material of parafiin which is easily shapable,

- plastic, and non-elastic, and which after having been manually molded retains the shape imparted to it.

2. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy, comprising a dielectric layer and a mass of easily shapable, plastic, and non-elastic dielectric material mounted thereon.

3. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy, comprising a dielectric layer and a mass of easily shapable, plastic, and non-elastic dielectric material mounted thereon, the dielectric layer being constituted of a solid having a higher dielectric constant than the dielectric constant of the' plasticsubstance.

4. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-=short-wave therapy, comprising a dielectric layer, a mass of easily shapable, plastic, and nonelastic dielectric materlalmounted thereornthe dielectric layer being constituted of a solid having a higher dielectric constant than the dielectric constant of the plastic substance, and a foil-like, metal coating mounted on the dielectric layer.

5. A condenser electrode for-short-wave and f ultra-short-wave therapy, comprising a dielectric layer, a mass of easily shapable, plastic, and nonelastic dielectric material mounted thereon, the

dielectric layer being constituted of a solid having a higher dielectric constant than the dielectric constant of the plastic substance, and a foil-like, metal coating sprayed on the dielectric layer.

aeeasse 3 6. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy comprising a dielectric layer, and a second dielectric layer fixed thereto, the layers having difl'erent dielectric constants, and one of the layers being constituted of a manually moldable substance having a free manually moldable surface, and the moldable substance being inelastic so as to retain its molded shape after manual molding.

'l. A method of storing condenser electrodes in which the dielectric material consists'of abody of easily shapable plastic, nonelastic substance, comprising storing the electrodes in a. container, and maintaining the temperature of the container sufficiently high to cause the dielectric material to retain its plastic consistency.

8. A condenser electrode for short-wave and ultra-short-wave therapy comprising a relatively inflexible conductive member and a paramn-like dielectric secured thereto, the dielectric being thermoplastic to permit molding and being also inelastic so as to retain its molded shape after molding, the dielectric being thick enough to. permit molding therein negatives of ulcerations of the dimensions of furuncles, carbuncles and the like. y 9. A condenser electrode for short-wave an ultra-short-wave therapy comprising a relatively molded shape after manual molding, the moldable substance being thick enough to permit cutting, slices therefrom so as to vary the capacity of the condenser.

p 12. A condenser-type electrode comprising an insulating layer shaped to conform substantially to the surface of the part of the body to be treated, a metal coating fitted to the surface of said insulating layer opposite to its surface to be applied to the human body, said insulating layer consisting of a material adapted to be moulded at relatively low temperatures to become sufllciently hard at room temperature to retain the shape imparted to it and to be reshaped upon subsequent reheating.

13. A condenser-type electrode for short-wave therapy comprising a dielectric layer shaped to conform substantially to the surface of the part of the human body to be treated, a metal coating fitted to the surface of said dielectric layer opposite to its surface to be applied to the human body, certain parts of said dielectric layer between the metal coating and the surface to be applied to the human body being of different thicknesses, said dielectric layer consisting ofa plastic material adapted to secure the required inflexible conducting support and a wax dielectric secured thereto, the wax dielectric being thick enough to permit molding therein negatives of ulcerations of the dimensions of furuncles, carbuncles and the like.

ultra-short-wave therapy comprising a relatively inflexible conducting support and a dielectric secured thereto'and having a free surface, the dicondenser electrode forshort-wave and a distances between said metal coating and the surface of the human body to be treated and'to be manually reshaped due to its plasticity subsequent to prior use. I

14. A condenser-type electrode for short-wave therapy of ulcerations comprising a dielectric layer having a recess adapted to receive an ulceration, the part of said layer surrounding said recess being shaped to conform substantially to the surface of the part 01 the body to which the electrode is to be applied, a metal coating fitted to the surface of saldidielectric layer opposite to the recess, said dielectric layer consisting of a plastic material adapted to be moulded manually at relatively low temperatures to become sumciently hard at room temperatures to secure the required distance between said metal coating and the ulceration to be treated and to be manually reshaped due to its plasticity upon subsequent reheating.

, LEO HERSCHLAND.

GEORG SCHMIDT. 

